


Ardent Adversaries

by shawtycrazy7000



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Bisexual Female Character, Bondage, Character Death, Dolores Umbridge Bashing, Dumbledore's Army, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Exhibitionism, F/M, Fireworks, Fred Weasley Lives, Gay Male Character, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Character of Color, Lesbian Character, Light Bondage, N.E.W.T.s | Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests, Non-Canon Relationship, Pegging, Praise Kink, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Protective Fred Weasley, Slow Burn, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:35:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29089170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shawtycrazy7000/pseuds/shawtycrazy7000
Summary: Olivia Dawson has lived with the Malfoy's almost all her life. They graciously took her in when she became orphaned. During her last year at Hogwarts, the new DADA teacher, Dolores Umbridge, gives her detention with the one person she hates more than anyone else- Fred Weasley. A prank gone wrong against her during their first year sparked an intense rivalry between them and ever since then, they have had it out for each other. Endless prank wars and screaming matches on the quidditch pitch have always been the hallmark of their tumultuous relationship. But what happens when they form a truce and decide to team up to take Umbridge down?----I only own my OC's Olivia Dawson, Tara Cofford, Hugh Fordham, Felix DePaul, Clancy Burns and Shea BurnsContains mature sexual themes as well as violence, alcohol and drug use.
Relationships: Fred Weasley/Original Female Character(s), Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black Malfoy, Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Kudos: 8





	1. Kings Cross

I'm awoken by the small hand of one of our house elves, Mippy, shaking me awake gently. I groan and try to move away from her hand.

"Miss has to get up now. Miss needs to finish packing for Hogwarts!" Mippy says before pulling my many blankets down off of me. I finally sit up and try to get moving, albeit slowly. Mippy smiles at me before apparating away with a loud crack. I glance at my clock and see that it's barely 6:30 in the morning. I swear loudly. Draco pops his head into my room right as I do it too. He raises his eyebrows at me.

"Don't let Mum hear you say that, Liv," He says to me with a smirk.

"Oh piss off D, it's early," I reply glaring at him playfully. He laughs as he comes into my room. My trunk is on the ground near the foot of my bed with all my unpacked things strewn around it. He glances down at the mess of school things and scoffs. 

"You know, if Mum sees that she's gonna have a fit. You know how much she hates being late to things," He raises his blonde eyebrows at me. "And messes," Draco adds before plopping down onto my bed. I yawn sleepily at him before noticing something is wrong.

"What's up, D," I ask him as I scoot closer. 

"I dunno, I guess I'm just bummed it's your last year," Draco says unconvincingly. 

"I mean I'm still going to be here for a while, I'm not leaving yet. Also, don't lie Draco, I know something else is wrong. Tell me," I say looking at him. He starts to say something before shaking his head and standing up. Draco leaves my room and turns to me at the doorway. 

"Get packed before you get yelled at," He says to me. I flip him off and he laughs before walking away. I can't help but wonder what his actual problem is. I open the wire cage on my dresser before sighing and I slowly make my way over to my mess of a trunk. I throw on my green quidditch jumper over my tank top and squat down next to my large pile. This is gonna take a while. I start to sort my books from my robes and after what feels like an hour, I have the majority of things organized. I notice I'm missing a set of spare robes and my quidditch uniform. Mippy or Narcissa must have taken them down to be washed. I stand up and open my window before heading down the grand staircase to the main area. I walk through the small informal dining room off of the kitchen before spotting Narcissa at the breakfast nook reading the Prophet. There is a plate of toast and jam and a carafe on the table, hopefully filled with coffee.

"Good morning Olivia," She says, not looking up from the paper. "How'd you sleep, dear." I smile a little at her pet name for me. 

"Pretty good, Cissa, thank you," I reply. I plop down in the chair next to her and grab a piece of toast off the table. She conjures a mug without looking and hands it to me. I pour some of the liquid into the cup and it's, thankfully, coffee. I spread some of the jam onto my toast and munch on it quietly for a moment before I hear Lucius' heavy boots nearby. I sit straight and try to make myself look presentable. Cissa looks at me with a small smirk, not too unlike what Draco was giving me earlier. Lucius enters and gives Narcissa a peck on the cheek before giving my shoulder a squeeze. 

"Do make sure you are packed and ready by ten, Olivia," He says to me as he moves to sit next to Narcissa’s other side. 

"Of course," I reply. "I was just grabbing a quick bite before finishing up." I start to stand up as I finish the last bite when I remember what I came down here for in the first place. "Oh, have either of you seen my spare robes or my quidditch uniform? I can't seem to find either of them upstairs." 

"Oh yes, dear, I was actually about to go to your room when you came downstairs. They are hanging up in the mudroom. I had Mippy wash them for you," Narcissa says with a small smile. I nod thanks and finish off my coffee before leaving. I walk down the small hallway off of the kitchen to the mudroom. Lo and behold, there they are. I grab them and hurry back upstairs to pack. 

I pass by Lucius' study on the way to my room and shudder at the memory of accidentally entering it as a child. I was about five years old and went in by mistake, thinking it was Draco’s room. I'll never forget how loudly Lucius yelled at me and how much I had cried. He would never admit it, but Lucius has a tiny bit of a soft spot for me. I first discovered it when, after he noticed I was hysterically crying, he gave me a stiff hug and a piece of a chocolate frog.

I continue down the long hallway and peek my head into Draco's room on the way. He's passed out on his bed. I smirk. He should know better by now than to leave himself unattended like that. I quickly walk into my room and pull out the small box from under my bed. I shuffle through the stink pellets, nose biting teacups, and sugar quills before remembering Draco's been in a weird mood today. I decide, for once, against pulling a prank. I don't think it will help whatever he's dealing with. I head back to his room and gently shake him awake. 

"Leave me alone," He says rolling over. I shake him harder and he very reluctantly sits up. 

"C'mon D, Cissa is gonna be mad if we're late," I say to him, echoing his earlier statement to me. He points to his perfectly packed trunk with his broom sitting on top of it.

"I, unlike you Liv, have been packed since last night. Now if you would bugger off, I'm going back to bed," He says laying back down.

"Oh fuck off D, I know Cissa did that for you last night," I reply as I leave. "Momma's boy," I say under my breath, loud enough for him to hear. He chucks a pillow at me and I dodge it no problem. 

“You do remember I’m good at dodging things right? I am captain of our quidditch team and star beater after all,” I say sarcastically. Now it’s his turn to flip me off. I laugh and back into my room to finish packing.

I notice a small shape in the air across the grounds from outside my window. My grey speckled owl, Athena, is back just in time for our trek to King’s Cross. Once she settles in her cage, I close the door and get back to my packing. After forever, I’m finally done and all I have left to do is pack my jumper that I have on. I check the time and see that it’s barely a quarter after nine. I go into my bathroom and try and fail to smooth down my long dark hair. I decide to take a quick shower and then get ready for the long train ride. After I dry my hair, I throw on my usual smudgy eyeliner and mascara. I stare at my handiwork around my honey colored eyes and decide that it's as good as it’s gonna get. I clean my nose piercings with a bit of saltwater before doing the same to my ears. I take my rings off the counter and put them on before changing into an oversized forest green jumper and jeans. I grab my black boots and put them on before grabbing the necklace my mom left me when she died. It's a small light green gem pendant in a dainty silver casing. I rub my thumb over the small stone fondly before clasping it around my neck.

I exit my bathroom and grab my broom from it’s holder on the wall. I place it on top of my now packed trunk and flop down on my bed. It feels so surreal that this is my last year and that after this year, I’m done. I won’t get to be in the common room with my friends anymore. No parties in the room of requirement. I sigh sadly and lay down against my bed. This year will hopefully be a good one.

Narcissa and Lucius apparate Draco and I to a quiet corner of King’s Cross before loading our trunks, brooms and my owl onto two carts. We head over to the wall in between Platforms 9 and 10 and casually lean through, Lucius and I first and then Draco and Cissa. It’s around 10:45 so we have enough time to get our things situated and not rush. I walk ahead of the rest of my family and break into a sprint to crush my best friend into a hug. She wraps her arms around me before pulling away. 

“Dawson!” She says excitedly.

“Cofford!” I say back before pulling her into another hug. “I missed you.”

“I know I missed you too,” She says. We met first year on the train and we were both fortunately sorted into Slytherin. We’ve been close ever since and are both on the team for quidditch. 

“Ah, hello Tara. How’ve you been?” Cissa asks her. 

“I’ve been well,” Tara responds brightly. “And you?”

“We’ve been excellent, Tara,” Narcissa replies. I spot my favorite twins over Tara’s shoulder and beckon them over. Shea’s bright platinum blonde dyed hair sticks out in the crowd of witches and wizards mulling about. I watch Shea as she tugs on Clancy’s arm to get him to stop babbling on about whatever it is this time. Tara and I quickly walk over to meet the “Blondies” as we call them. 

“Dawson, Tara!” Shea says. “I’ve missed you!” She pulls us into a hug. Shea gives the best hugs, but she has a bad habit of not letting us go for a bit too long. I look over her shoulder to see Clancy standing stiffly off to the side. He never was really big on hugs. I suddenly catch a flash of tan skin and dark curly hair weaving through the crowd over to us. I bury my face in Shea’s shoulder to hide my giggle. Felix always makes a point to give Clancy the biggest hug he can. I look up from her shoulder at the perfect time too. Felix basically tackles Clancy in a huge hug. I can’t help it and I start to laugh. Tara and Shea stop their quiet talk to turn around and look at the scene behind them. They immediately burst into laughter as well. I feel someone drape their arm over my shoulder and twist my head to the side to see who it is. Hugh looks at me with a smile.

“Long time no see, mates,” He says smiling. I playfully smack him in the chest.

“Long time no see is right you prick! You didn’t write all summer!” I say to him, raising my eyebrows. The others nod in agreement.

“Oh c’mon Dawson, you guys all know my mum cuts me off during the summer,” Hugh says. 

“Now, now Hughie, no Hogwarts stuff out of the school year. You’ve got to be with your mummy and daddy,” Tara says in a spot on impression of Mrs. Fordham. We all start to laugh again. Clancy checks his watch and, like the party pooper he is, reminds us that we have to be on the train in a few minutes. Felix offers to get us our usual compartment before any of the first years steal it. We all nod in agreement and head our separate ways to say goodbye to our families. Felix’s parents don’t usually stay past drop off. They want to get back to France as quickly as possible and often apparate out mere minutes after getting to the station. 

I turn around and search for Narcissa’s trademark hair in the throng of people trying to say goodbye to their children. I finally spot her saying goodbye to Draco with Lucius hovering behind her. She gives him a hug and a peck on the cheek before Lucius gives him a pat on the shoulder. Draco climbs up the stairs onto the train and shortly after disappears down the corridor. I walk over to them and stand awkwardly in front of them for a moment before Lucius speaks.

“Have a good year at school, Olivia,” He says to me. “Try not to get into too much trouble this year, will you?” I nod my head at him quickly in acknowledgement of his last statement. However, I think we both know that that’s not going to happen.

“Yes, dear, have a good year,” Cissa says sweetly, pulling me into a hug. I rest my head on her shoulder and hug her back tightly. The smell of her perfume invades my senses and I can smell the lilies, citrus and slightly earthy smell clearly. She pulls back a bit and places a kiss on my cheek. I smile at her and then move to stand back in front of Lucius.

“Goodbye, I’ll see you in June,” I say to them. To my surprise, Lucius pulls me into a quick, albeit stiff, hug. I stand there shocked for a moment before he rolls his eyes at me.

“Go on now, wouldn’t want to miss the train, would you now?” He says to me. I roll my eyes back at him. I guess he’s back to his usual self.

“Alright go on dear,” Cissa says, changing the subject. “See you next summer.” I start to walk away onto the train when she grabs my arm gently. “Don’t forget to write,” She says earnestly. I know Draco doesn’t write her very much so I write for the both of us.

“Of course Cissa,” I say and I mean it. She nods at me and then her and Lucius retreat. I watch them fade into the crowd before I turn around and head into the train.


	2. Train Ride

I follow the long corridor down to the Slytherin end of the train before sliding open the door into our section. I head toward the back of the train car, passing a load of first years on the way. I can tell they are just starting out their magical journey by the looks of nervousness on their faces. I smile internally and think of what they are in store for this year. I pray that we actually get a good Defense teacher this year. Last year’s teacher wasn’t too bad until he turned out to be a Death Eater in disguise. I shudder at the memory. I should’ve known something was wrong when he turned Draco into a ferret. Cissa and Lucius were furious about that one. I laugh quietly to myself as I finally reach our usual compartment.  
I’m still slightly laughing as my friends greet me while I make my way to my usual window seat next to Hugh. I plop down and put my feet up onto Hugh’s lap. He gives me an annoyed look and pushes my legs off. I smirk at him and put them right back. He rolls his eyes at me and drapes his arm over my shins. I am suddenly drawn back into the conversation when Felix says my name.

“So what do you think about that, Dawson?” He asks, his brown eyes looking at me inquisitively. 

“Um,” I say, trying to think of something to say. “Sure?” The blondies, Tara, and Felix all look at me in shock.

“You’re joking right?” Shea says in her soft voice. “You’re gonna tell us your plans for this year?” Her eyes widen in surprise.

“Nah, I’m only joking Shea. You know a good prankster never reveals her secrets,” I say. 

“Plus, you guys know that you’re safe from whatever you do. That’s the best perk of being my friends.”

Shea slumps back into the seat defeated. Tara rubs her shoulder sweetly and I stare at her inquisitively. She blushes furiously and removes her hand. I shake my head at her. I look over at Clancy and his nose is, like always, in a book. I find myself looking back at Tara. I trace her face with my eyes as I look at her. I move my eyes down the rest of her body too. She looks different from how she did the last time I saw her. She gained a bit of weight and it went all to her hips and chest. I shake myself out of my trance and look back at her face. She’s staring directly at me. I wiggle my eyes at her jokingly. 

Tara and I have been best friends since the first day of first year. In third year, she was the first person I came out to, and then immediately after she came out right back. We’ve hooked up from time to time, most of the time drunk or high after the insane parties. Tara moves her eyes slightly in the direction of Hugh and I glance at him. He’s staring at me, thinking no one would notice. He quickly looks away and clears his throat. 

“Anyone up for a game of wizards chess?” Hugh says trying to change the subject. Everyone looks at him with varying grimaces. 

“Yeah, I’ll play Hugh. Let me grab my set from my bag,” I say, standing up to get at the overhead compartment. “Where’s my bag?” I say to no one in particular. 

“Dunno,” Felix says. “Maybe they put it with Draco?” I groan in disappointment. As I start to head out of the cart when I see the Trolley Witch a couple of compartments down, so I head back to my seat.

“Food first, chess after, I need to eat or I’m gonna get mad,” I say with a smile. The girls laugh. They know all about how mad I get when I’m hungry. We chat leisurely for a few minutes before the Trolley Witch arrives.

“Anything off the trolley, dears?” She asks sweetly.

“Uhm, yeah, lemme get a pumpkin pasty and a licorice wand,” Says Hugh.

“Cauldron cake please,” Shea says.

“Hmm,” Clancy says looking up from his book. “Just a packet of Droobles.” 

“Pumpkin pasty and a chocolate frog,” Tara adds.

“I second that,” I say to her. 

“Just a licorice wand please,” Felix says as he hands her our combined money. She hands him all of our goodies and Felix sets them on the small table by the window.

“I’ll pay you back when I get my stuff from D,” I mutter to him. He rolls his eyes at me.

“Don’t worry Dawson, you can pay me back later,” He says with a wink. Fuck me, I know what he wants. I did not spend 2 galleons on the good shit for him to take it all.

“Yeah we’ll see about that one,” I remark as I leave the compartment to go find Draco. I walk down the corridor and pass by several other people in my year I vaguely know. I shoot back random “hellos” and “how are yous” to all of them as I continue my search for D. I finally find him standing with a couple of his pinhead friends. Crabbe and Goyle are on either side of him. I think I throw up in my mouth a little at the sight of them. I see Pansy, to which I throw up again, sitting down as well as Theo and Blaise alongside her.

“Hey Draco,” I say to him as I get a bit closer. He looks over at me. “Do you have my bag?” He rolls his eyes at me like the prick he is.

“Yes I do. I was just about to go find you,” Draco says offhandedly. “It’s up there.” He points to the overhead compartment, barely glancing at me. 

“Draco, you’re such an arse,” I say to him as I punch his shoulder. “Get my fucking bag.” He grabs it down for me angrily. I love Draco, but when he’s around his friends, especially Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy, he turns into a jackass. I try to say something to him again and he just gives me a disgusted look. I storm away angrily and don’t even realize I went the wrong way until it’s too late.

I’m surrounded by unfamiliar faces as I enter the new train car. I look around for someone I vaguely recognize when I see a flash of ginger hair. 

“Oh fucking hell,” I mutter to myself. I try to open the door back into the Slytherin car but it seems to be stuck. I swear again as I try and remove my hand from the handle. I can’t seem to remove it.

“Well, well, well,” A voice says. “Looks like a little snake has stumbled into the lion's den.” I roll my eyes as I turn around to face them. Lo and behold it’s my favorite Weasleys. They stare at me as I lean against the doorframe, trying to hide my stuck hand.

“Hello boys, like something you see?” I say sarcastically. 

“Not really,” George says. 

“We were hoping someone would try out the new product,” Fred says. “Even better that it's you, Dawson.” 

“What’s this new product then?” I ask frigidly. 

“Well you see, it’s for our brand,” George replies.

“Yeah, Weasleys Wizards Wheezes,” Fred says. “That door handle sticks to whoever doesn’t belong in the room they are trying to enter or leave. We charmed it to stick to anyone who wasn’t us.”

“We hoped a little firsty would try it out,” George says, looking at his idiot of twin.

“So much better now that it’s you that’s stuck,” Fred smirks at me. I swipe at him with the hand that isn’t stuck to the fucking door and they both laugh.

“Trying to fight me, are you now?” Fred asks with a devilish look on his face.

“Always, Weasley,” I reply. “How about you unstick me and find out.” He and George share a look and then George whips out his wand to unstick me. He mutters a spell under his breath and my hand becomes unstuck. I rub my fingers for a minute trying to get used to the fact they are not stuck anymore. I look up and notice a small crowd has gathered around us.

“Not gonna fight me are you,” Fred says cockily. “Knew it. You’ve always been more bark than bite, haven’t you?” He cocks his head to the side at me arrogantly. I take a deep breath and decide mentally not to fight him. Narcissa and Lucius would be mad. 

“Yeah, Georgie, I knew she wasn’t going to do it. She’s been raised by the Malfoy’s, and you know how they are,” Fred says to George quietly, but it’s still loud enough for me to hear. I make a snap decision and rush Fred, dropping my bag in the process. I catch him off guard and sucker punch him, knocking him back a bit. There’s a small trickle of blood trailing out of his nose from where I hit him. I smile inwardly but glare at him.

“Looks like I did it, didn’t I, Weasley?” I say pointedly. “Maybe next time don’t insult my family because while Draco may do that to you guys, I don’t stoop that low.”

“You’re gonna get it, Dawson,” Fred says angrily. “Whether it be on the quidditch pitch or elsewhere, watch your back.”

“I’d like to see you try,” I reply as I stand up. “Remember what happened last year on the pitch? I seem to recall I knocked you off your broom.” He scowls at me as I climb off him. I shake my hand out and it twinges a bit. I’ll have Clancy fix it for me when I get back there.  
I turn around and pull out my wand to open the door handsfree when I feel a hand grab my forearm. Whoever it is spins me around and slams me against the wall. The breath is knocked out of me a bit as I stare up at Fred. We are almost nose to nose and the small trickle of blood is still there. He puts his arms on either side of my head.

“You are gonna regret that, Dawson,” He says menacingly. He leans in close to my ear. 

“You’ve got no idea what I am capable of.” 

“Same to you, Weasley,” I say back. “I won’t hesitate to do that again.”

“Oh yeah?” Fred replies.

“Yeah, so watch it,” I respond. 

“Looking forward to it, Dawson, see you on the pitch.” He removes his arms from either side of me and turns around, leaving me out of breath against the wall. I shake my head in disgust and grab my bag off the floor. I open the door to the Slytherin car with my wand and make my way back to my friends. I slide open the door into our compartment and they all look at me funny. I notice they’ve all changed into their robes.

“What?” I ask them as I take my seat. I start to pull my robes out of my bag so that I can change.

“What took you so long Dawson?” Shea says. “You were gone for like 15 minutes. And why is your hand bleeding?”

“Actually 17 minutes and 37 seconds,” Clancy says, correcting her. She rolls her eyes at her twin. 

“I, uhm, maybe got into a fight,” I say with an apologetic look and five pairs of eyes widen in shock. I look down at my knuckles and see a faint trickle of blood as well as notice a dull throb of pain.

“Bloody hell!” Hugh exclaims. “With who?”

“Possibly with Fred Weasley…” I say trailing off. They gape at me.

“You did not!” Tara basically yells at me. 

“Yeah, I did,” I say as I take off my jumper and put on my Hogwarts one. “I got a good punch in too.” I tell them what happened and I finish changing while they process the information. 

“Merlin, Dawson, I can’t believe you did that!” Felix says, high fiving me. I let out a breathy laugh. 

“Oh, Clancy?” I ask. He looks up from his book. “Can you fix my hand? You’re the best at that charm.” He nods and pulls out his want. He gently takes my hand and mutters a healing charm to fix it. I breathe a sigh of relief as the dull throb subsides and thank him. Clancy nods and goes right back to his book.

“We’re nearly there,” Tara says after a moment of comfortable silence. “I wonder who the new Defense teacher is this year.” 

“Hopefully not another Death Eater,” Shea says. We all start to laugh, remembering how 

“Moody” turned Draco into a ferret. Clancy looks out the window as he announces that he can see the castle in the distance. I smile contently. I cannot wait to be back home. 

“Big party tonight, yeah?” Hugh asks and we all nod in approval, except Clancy of course. Our last year is going to be the best one yet, I think to myself, smiling at my best friends.


	3. Arrival

We all grab our various things and start to make our way out of the train and onto the platform. The six of us head to where the carriages are and wait to be seated in the next available one. After a quick ride to the castle we get out and head into the Great Hall. I can’t help but gaze up at the enchanted ceiling as my little group breaks up. Shea heads to the Hufflepuff table while Clancy and Felix head to the Ravenclaw one. Hugh, Tara and I make our way to our usual spot at the end of the Slytherin table. 

“Ugh I hope we get a good group of firsties this year,” Hugh says. “Remember how weird last years were?” Tara and I hit him simultaneously. “What was that for!?” He exclaims.

“It was for being a prick!” I say back. Tara nods in agreement.

“How am I being a prick?” He asks. “They were a bunch of weirdos!” Tara and I hit him again.

“They were ELEVEN!” Tara says to him, enunciating the fact they were literal eleven year olds. 

“Of course they were a bit off, they were babies!” He shakes his head and opens his mouth as if to reply when the huge doors open and the new group of first years walk in nervously. We all quiet down and await Professor Dumbledore’s welcome speech. I look along the teacher’s table and my eyes are drawn to a short woman in all pink. 

“Welcome to another year at Hogwarts!” Dumbledore says in his breathy voice. “Before we start the Sorting Ceremony, I am pleased to welcome our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dolores Umbridge.” The pink clothed woman stands. I hate her already. Dumbledore starts to speak again when the new professor cuts him off. She says a long winded speech that leaves almost all of the students hating her. Dumbledore finishes his, thankfully, short speech and then the new first years are sorted. We get a couple good looking Slytherin’s and I notice all the seventh years looking pleased. 

Dumbledore says another small speech and then waves his arms and the feast begins. I stare at all of the food trying to figure out where to begin. I load my plate with all of my favorites: shepherds pie, salad, and a small helping of steak and kidney pie. We all dig in and barely talk during our meal. We are inhaling our food fast to try and get to the common room as quickly as possible.

Finally after we all enjoyed a hefty portion of treacle tart and other delicious desserts, Dumbledore excuses us to our common rooms. I exchange a look telling the blondies and Felix to meet me at the entrance to the Great Hall for a second. They all nod and after a moment we meet.

“Room of requirement? 10 o’clock?” Felix asks quickly. We all nod and then disperse. Tara, Hugh and I make our way to the dungeons to get settled into our dormitories. 

Tara and I are unpacking our things in our small seventh year dorm when we hear a quiet, albeit complicated, knock. We roll our eyes in sync at Hugh as we open our door to him.

“Yes?” Tara asks him, crossing her arms.

“What’d you lot bring for tonight?” Hugh inquires as he sits down on my bed. Tara takes out her small black bag that I charmed with an undetectable extension charm and pulls out two huge bottles of Firewhiskey. My eyes widen in surprise as I cross the small room to inspect the bottles.

“Dear Merlin, how’d you manage this?” I ask as I turn the bottle over in my hands.

“Oh, just nicked it from Dad while he and Mum were out on holiday a couple weeks back,” She says with a smirk. Hugh gives her a little cheer in approval. “And you?” Tara asks him after his little cheer is done. 

“A good man never tells his secrets,” He says with a wink. “What about you Dawson?” Hugh asks me with a devilish look on his face. I shake my head at him and pull out my small clear bag from my trunk. I shake a little in front of them.

“I got the good shit this time. Straight from Knockturn Alley,” I answer with a smirk. I pass them the bag so that they can take a whiff. Tara wrinkles her nose in disgust but I know that later she’s going to be all over me trying to get me to roll one for her. After we chat for a few minutes about what we think will go down tonight, Tara shoos Hugh out so we can change. 

“Whatcha gonna wear?” Tara asks me as she digs through her trunk.

“Not sure, probably my usual jeans and tank top,” I reply as I flop down onto my bed. Tara spins around so fast that I’m pretty sure she got whiplash. 

“No no no, you have to be joking! I let that fly last year but not this time,” She huffs. I open my mouth to speak and she holds her hand up to silence me. “You are not wearing jeans to the annual seventh year party! No way” She rifles through her bag until she pulls out a tiny piece of black, silky fabric. I sit up.

“Uh, no way. What the fuck is that?” I exclaim. She tosses it to me and I stand up to look at it. It unfurls in my hands and I finally piece together that it’s a dress.

“It's a dress you twat,” Tara replies. “And you are wearing it. No if’s, and’s or but’s.” I sigh in defeat and realize I have no choice. She’ll probably hex me if I don’t wear it. I sigh again so that Tara really understands my annoyance and then I head into the adjoining bathroom to go get ready. I use my wand to straighten my hair and then head back into our room to grab my makeup bag. I notice our other roommates, Audrey and Imani are sitting on their beds. I wave to them excitedly and wrap them into big hugs. They are getting ready for the party too and I let them know I’ll be done in the bathroom in a few minutes. I walk back into the bathroom and start to fix my makeup. I add a bit more eyeliner and mascara before adding a tiny diamond in my inner corners. My dark hair frames my face just how I wanted it and I head back into our dorm to change.

I nod to the other girls and they change places with me. I grab the “dress” off my bed again and hold it up to me. I try to protest again and Tara shoots me a dirty look. I close my mouth and decide to just take off my robes and get on with it. I shimmy into the silky black fabric and slide the straps over my shoulders. I turn to the full length mirror on our wall and my mouth drops open in shock.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! Tara!” I yell. 

“What? C’mon Dawson you look hot!” She replies back with a wicked look in her eyes. I turn back to the mirror and look at myself again. The dress ends about mid thigh with a small slit up the side. It hugs my figure tightly and shows off my curves. The cowl neckline shows enough of cleavage without making me look like I’m trying to show it off. Maybe she’s right because I do look kinda hot. I check out my ass in the mirror too and nod approvingly. 

“Maybe it’s not that bad,” I say with a laugh. She laughs from her seat on her bed and stands up to check herself out in the mirror, giving me a slight push out of the way. I sit down on my bed and pull my black boots back on. Tara opens her mouth to say something but I flip her off, silencing her.

“You chose the dress, I chose the shoes,” I smirk at her. She shakes her head and goes back to checking herself out. Tara is wearing a tight, black long sleeve dress with dark emerald green heels. She looks hot. I pick at my nails for a second and adjust my rings while I wait for Hugh to come get us. I know I’m going to be cold later so I grab my favorite black jacket from my trunk and shrug it on as I hand Tara my stash to put into her bag. I last minute grab my wand off my bed and slip it into my boot in case of emergency.

Finally after ten or so minutes, Hugh knocks on our door and we head into the main room with him. He is dressed in a pair of dark slacks and a dark green button down. His light brown hair is, as per usual, slightly unkempt. 

“Got the goods ladies?” He asks us. We nod, smiling at him. He holds out his arms and we link arms with him on either side. We sneak out of the common room and make our slow ascent to the seventh floor, stopping every so often to check for Filch.

After about ten minutes we reach the large wall on the seventh floor and we stand there for a moment before a small door appears. We head into the room quickly and immediately are overwhelmed with the sounds and smells. Smoke hangs thickly in parts of the room and a variety of chairs and couches are scattered around. I look for Shea’s bright blonde hair and finally spot her and Clancy on a couch with Felix across from them. I lead Tara and Hugh to them and flop onto the couch Felix is on.

“Nice of you lot to finally show up,” Felix says cheekily. I notice him checking out a Hufflepuff that’s leaning on the wall and roll my eyes. Felix is boy crazy and will go after anything that moves sometimes. Tara pulls out a bottle of Firewhiskey and then conjures six glasses. She pours us huge helpings of the strong alcohol and then pulls out a bottle of butterbeer from her charmed bag.

“Alright bitches,” She says, handing us the glasses filled with amber liquid. “We are all drinking. No Clancy, you are not staying sober this time. You need to live your fuckin life tonight. After tonight you can never drink again, however I would like for us to be properly sloshed tonight so bottoms up.” She raises her glass and we all clink glasses with hers, even Clancy does it and that is shocking. I throw back the liquid and shudder a bit at the burn. Clancy sputters a bit and reaches for the bottle of butterbeer to chase it. 

We drink a couple more rounds and are definitely on our way to getting significantly drunk when Hugh pulls out a flask of something from his pocket. We stare at him with a mixture of curiosity and also mild intoxication. 

“This,” Hugh says slurring his words a bit, “Is something I nicked from my Gran. Couldn’t read the label for the life of me but it smelled strong so here you are.” He takes a swig and we watch as his face pinches together. I go next and take a large sip thinking he was exaggerating. This stuff is insane. I feel my brain going fuzzy and decide to roll a joint before I get too fucked up. I motion for Tara to hand me my drug bag and we trade as I hand her the flask.

I pull out my shit and start to roll up a joint when Felix sidles up next to me. He wags his eyebrows at me and I nod. I seal the joint with my tongue and then pull out my black lighter to really get this party started. I put the joint between my lips and then gently burn the end of my perfect blunt. I inhale the smoke deeply and then lean back onto the couch, passing it to Felix. He takes a drag and then hands it back to me. I take another couple pulls and then pass it back so he can pass it around the group. I am incredibly crossed now and feel great. Tara moves from her seat across from me to whisper something in my ear.

“Corner?” She murmurs to me. I nod and she grabs my hand to pull me up. At some point during the night I took my jacket off and now I am only clad in that tiny dress Tara gave me. 

Before I even realize it, Tara and I are in the far corner of the room. She brushes a piece of hair away from my face and then grabs my cheeks. I nod a little to show that it’s okay and then she pulls me into a kiss. I grab her hips and pull her closer to me. She tries to push me against the wall and I plant my feet before pushing her down onto a small ledge so she’s sitting. She spreads her legs a little bit so I can stand in between them and I move one hand up to cup the back of her neck. 

We stay like that for a little while before Tara decides she wants more and she grabs my waist to pull me closer. I move down to her neck and start to trail kisses there when I hear an all too familiar voice not too far away. I abandon my lips from Tara’s neck and turn my head to watch the conversation go down. Fred and George are leaning against the wall not too far down from us with a swarm of girls surrounding them.

“Yeah, so after I ever so kindly unstuck her hand from our new product, she tried to punch me!” Fred says and the girls gathered around Fred and George gasp. “She didn’t get me though, you know how she gets sometimes, and so I pushed her against the wall and told her off.” The group of girls giggle in delight. I turn to head over to him when Tara grabs my wrist. I shoot her a glare and shake her hand off of mine. I storm over there but stop dead in my tracks when I hear what he says next.

“I bet she would be loads more tame if she wasn’t raised by those people. They’re real wankers, those Malfoys. Lucius and Draco are bloody mental,” Fred says, glancing at George, who nods and passes him a bottle of Firewhiskey. I yank my wand out of my boot and I feel thankful that I decided to bring it last minute. I push through their gaggle of witches and stand in front of him.

“I would be tame, would I? You’re just being a bitch ‘cuz you know I’m better at quidditch than you. You can’t handle the fact that I’m better, can you?” I ask him, raising my voice. 

“And for the record, I punched him. I got him good and bloodied his nose too.” I put my wand against his throat. “If I hear you insulting my family ever again, I will personally hex you into oblivion.” I back away for a second and lower my wand. I glare at all of them one last time and realize the girls have backed away from us. Even George has moved away from me and Fred. I turn around to head back to my friends when I hear Fred mutter something to George.

“She really is a Malfoy isn’t she. Just as mental as they are,” He says. I spin around on my heel and wordlessly shoot the bat bogey hex at him. Black bats start to fly out of his nose and I raise my wand to fire off another jinx when I’m grabbed from behind. I feel Hugh’s arms wrap around me and pull me away. I shout at Fred as I am being pulled away.

“Fuck you Weasley! You are gonna regret that!” I scream as I flail around in Hugh’s arms. Once we are far enough away Hugh sets me down at our couch. I grab the rest of the Firewhiskey and chug it. I feel hot tears streaming down my face as I down the burning liquid. 

“Woah woah woah,” Felix says. “Slow down Dawson, you’re gonna be sick.”

“Don’t care,” I reply, finishing the bottle. I grab the other bottle and tear off the seal. I start to drink it, albeit slower. I take smaller sips and I soon am unaware of my surroundings. I slump over onto whoever’s lap is next to me and close my eyes. Everything is blurry and my hearing is fuzzy. The noise around me fades to a dull din as I lay on their lap. It could’ve been a few minutes or a few hours, I’m not really sure, when I feel a pair of arms hoist me up. I groan and then feel those same arms pick me up bridal style. I mumble thank you but it comes out as gibberish. I black out and the next thing I know I am being laid down in my bed. I immediately let sleep take me knowing I’m going to hate myself in the morning.


	4. Morning After

I wake up the next morning to the voices of my roommates chattering away. I blearily open my eyes and wince at the harsh light.

“Fuck me,” I say as I attempt to sit up. I’m immediately hit with a wave of nausea and I lean back against my headboard wearily as I close my eyes. 

“Ah, sleeping beauty! You have arisen,” I hear Tara say way too loudly and I groan.

“Shut up,” I manage to say. “What happened last night? I remember parts but…” I finish trailing off. I open my eyes and sit up a bit more against my headboard.

“Um,” Tara says looking at the floor. “ Let’s get to that later. Here,” She says, handing me a bottle of something. I take it weakly and take a sip. Pepper up potion. I sigh in relief as I start to feel better. The nausea is still faintly there but subsides more and more as I finish the bottle. I stretch my arms and probe Tara again about last night. 

“Tara, what did I do last night?” I ask again. She grimaces a bit and then turns away.

“You should get dressed, Dawson. There’s only fifteen minutes left of breakfast,” She replies. 

“I’ll meet you in the common room in five.” Tara turns and heads down the stairs. I sit up and pull my robe, sweater, tie and skirt from my trunk and hastily put it on. I rush into the bathroom to fix my hair and attempt to make my makeup look presentable. In the end I give up and pull on my boots before grabbing my bag and heading down the small flight of stairs into our common room. 

“C’mon then,” Tara says when she spots me. “We have to rush.” She grabs my arm and yanks me forward. I stumble after her for a moment before I finally regain my footing. We exit our common room and step out into the dungeons. I gather my robe around me as we head up the stairs to the Great Hall. Before we enter I pull Tara aside.

“Seriously, just tell me. It can’t have been that bad,” I say to her. She shakes her head. 

“Have Hugh tell you, my head hurts too much for this,” She replies. I shake my head at her and push past her to head into the Hall. As soon as I step past the threshold, every seventh year in sight looks up at me. Some are smiling at me and others are looking at me like I’ve grown horns. I feel heat start to rise in my cheeks and I quickly head to our usual spot at our table. I plop down next to Hugh and reach across the table to grab the pumpkin juice. As I do so, I make eye contact with Fred Weasley from across the way. He glares at me before turning to his brother. 

“Hugh,” I say. “What the fuck happened last night?” 

“Erm,” He grimaces. “You may or may not have gotten into a fight with Fred and you, uhm, also hexed him pretty badly.” My eyes widen and I lay my head down on the table.

“Fuck me,” I say. “Why did no one stop me?”

“We tried, but you were very...erm… persistent?” Hugh replies annoyedly, stabbing a bit of egg with his fork. I groan and then my stomach grumbles and I load my plate up to distract myself. I grab some eggs and fruit and a couple of sausages before digging in. Our Head of House, Professor Snape, brings by our schedules with a tense look on his face. Being somewhat related to the Malfoys means for some reason I get the pleasure of knowing Snape outside of school and I can tell something is wrong with him. He hands me my schedule with a look I’ve seen before. I glance at my schedule and see a tiny note scribbled at the bottom: Narcissa has requested we start up our private lessons again, my office at 8pm. I curse silently. Last year Snape started tutoring me in the magic of Legimency and Occlumency. It was the worst experience of my life and I was so fucking thankful it stopped. 

My classes this year are not that bad, except for two. Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts with my favorite house of all, Gryffindor. Hugh, Tara and I all groan simultaneously. I can’t believe I have my favorite classes of the whole year with the fucking Weasleys. I check the times on my schedule and see that I have Herbology and Divination before lunch and then Potions and DADA after. I see that for tomorrow I have Arithmancy and Ancient Runes and then Care of Magical Creatures after lunch. Wednesday I have Transfiguration and then the rest of the day for revisions. And then, thankfully, I have my Monday and Tuesday schedule reversed with double DADA class on Friday. It's a good mix of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs in my classes and I’m looking forward to having classes with Clancy, Felix and Shea. 

Hugh, Tara and I all decided to take basically the same classes this year because we all pretty much want to do the same thing when we get out of here. We all have wanted to be aurors since we were 12 years old. Of course I have not told the Malfoys that because they don’t like aurors but it is not stopping me. I’ve got to admit, I don’t know how well it's going to turn out for us, and by us I mean me. Out of the three of us, Tara and Hugh are most likely to actually get into the program. I have the ever so lovely Malfoy family name stopping me. I take another glance at my classes and rub my temples. This is going to be a long year.  
I stand up to leave and realize in my rush to get ready this morning, I failed to grab my book bag. I need my gloves for Herbology and my set texts.

“Hey, let Sprout know I’m going to be late. Say it's lady issues or something,” I say to both Hugh and Tara. They nod and Hugh rolls his eyes at me. I stick out my tongue at him and head down to the dungeons as fast as I can. I murmur the disgusting password to the common room and then race up to my dorm to grab my bag. I rush out of the room and into the corridor and bump into Snape. Fuck. 

“Ah, Ms. Dawson. What are you doing out when you should be in class?” He asks, crossing his arms.

“Sorry Professor, I forgot my texts for class,” I respond. I feel a pressure in my head and focus on blocking it out. There is no way I can let him see that I was hungover from a huge party last night. I file that thought away and speak to him through gritted teeth, “I thought we agreed you wouldn’t do that outside of lessons.”

“That was last year, it’s different now,” He says. “That was before.”

“What do you mean before? You mean before Potter saw the Dark Lord?” I ask inquisitively. 

“I cannot speak of that here,” Snape replies. “Get to class.” He turns and strides away down the corridor to his classroom. I stand there confused for a moment before walking as fast I can to the greenhouses. 

Ten minutes later I arrive at Greenhouse Three sticky and out of breath. I see that Professor Sprout’s back is turned and I try to sneak into my seat next to Tara and Shea as quietly as possible. Unfortunately, I step on Shea’s foot and she squeaks, alerting Sprout to my presence. She heads over to our plot and speaks to me in her sweet voice.

“Why hello, Ms. Dawson. Nice of you to finally join us. While Ms. Cofford and Mr. Fordham did let me know you would be a few moments late, a few moments has passed. However it is the first day back so this time I will let you off. Next time, please be punctual,” She says to me with a smile before turning to head back to the front. I quickly pull on my dragonhide gloves and follow Shea’s lead. Normally I would follow Tara, but she's as lost as me. Shea is a bit of a Herbology whiz and wants to be a Herbalist after school is done.

Shea expertly pulls the tubers off the bulbotuber plants and drains them into the small tub between us three. I mimic her actions and Tara follows suit. Soon our whole plant is done and we can grab a second. Sprout comes over to commend us on getting almost all of the pus into the bucket.

“Well done girls, five points each!” Sprout says kindly. Tara nudges me with her elbow and I smile shyly. Hugh glares at us from across the table and squeezes the tube a bit too roughly. The pus flies everywhere and gets onto his face. Immediately welts start growing.

“Oh dear!” Professor Sprout says. “Go see Pomfrey right away.” I notice his eye is swelling shut and he is grimacing painfully.

“Professor, I’m done with my plant, I can take him,” I offer. She nods and Hugh attempts a smile. I take my gloves off and gently grab Hugh’s arm to lead him to the Hospital Wing.

“What’s wrong with you?” I ask him softly as we walk through the castle.

“Nothing, it's whatever,” He says looking at the ground. 

“Well I’m going to ask you again when we get you fixed up,” I say. He nods. After a good five minutes of walking we reach the Hospital Wing.

“Hi Madam Pomfrey,” I say brightly. “Hugh got a bit of bulbotuber pus on his face as you can see.”

“Oh dear, let’s see what I can do,” She replies with a small smile. She whips out her wand and murmurs a few healing charms and I watch in awe as his face goes back to normal. “Alright off you pop, you two. Ms. Dawson, I hope I don’t see you too soon,” She says with a joking look in her eyes. I let out a small laugh.

“Me too, Madam!” I say as I take Hugh’s arm to lead him away. As soon as we get out into the hall, I pull him into an alcove. “Alright spill it. What’s your problem? And don’t say nothing is wrong, because I know you. You’re an ace at Herbology and you wouldn’t have messed up without a reason.” He looks down at the ground.

“Olivia…” He says before trailing off. He looks at me and I notice a weird look on his face. He opens his mouth to continue but I shush him.

“Listen,” I whisper. “Someone’s coming.” We hear footsteps coming down the hall and then they start to speak.

“C’mon you need to go to Pomfrey!” The first voice says. “There are still bats coming out of your nose!” I know that voice and my eyes widen in shock. I clamp my hand over my mouth to stop a laugh from escaping. 

“Yeah well it's only because you didn’t do the counterjinx correctly,” Fred says angrily. 

“It’s not my fault Freddie!” George says. “You were the one who was telling the story. You asked for it.”

“You git! You were the one that dragged all those girls over and told them to listen to my fucking story! If anything it's your fault!” Fred spits back. The bicker back and forth for another minute or two before we hear the big door into the Hospital Wing open and then close. 

I finally release the laugh I had been holding and double over in the alcove. Hugh looks at me like I’m insane. He’s got that look on his face he gets when he gets pissed off. 

“Dawson,” He says, crossing his arms. Oh no here we go. 

“Yea Hugh?” I reply bracing myself.

“Did I mention to you this morning how fucking stupid you were last night?!” Hugh says angrily, raising his voice. “You could’ve really hurt someone with your… antics. You're drunken antics I might add.”

“Oh sorry for wanting to stand up for my fucking family you prick!” I shout at him, my temper getting the best of me.

“Oh for fucks sake! They aren’t your family Dawson!” He yells. I freeze and reel back in shock. I stand there dazed for a moment before I feel the hot, angry tears prick my eyes. 

“Olivia, I-” He starts to say but the bell cuts him off. Hugh starts to walk towards me and I hold my wand up in between us.

“Don’t,” I say before spinning on my heel and rushing up the corridor. 

I manage to make it into Divination before him and sit down at a table in the back. Tara comes in shortly after and plops down on the poof next to me. I keep my eyes fixed on the door waiting for him to walk in. Clancy comes in with Felix trailing behind him and of course Clancy sits far away from us. I motion for Felix to take the remaining seat at our table. Hugh walks in just as Felix sits down and I make eye contact with him before quickly glancing away. Felix and Tara try and talk to me but I just tune them out and trace circles on the table with my finger for the remainder of class. 

“Okay love, what’s wrong. Out with it,” Felix says as the bell rings. I quickly gather my things and move to leave when Tara grabs my arm. 

“Olivia,” She says softly, using my full name. “What happened?”

“Bugger off,” I say shaking my arm out of her grip. I rush out of class and down the winding staircase before getting to the Great Hall. I sit down at the farthest spot at our table and grab a sandwich. I feel someone sit next to me and I scoot over a bit to make room thinking it's a younger kid. 

“Listen, Dawson,” Hugh starts to say. I feel the tears prick at my eyes again as I remember his god awful words to me. 

“Didn’t I tell you don’t?” I say to him. “That meant leave me the fuck alone.” I grab my stuff and stand up to leave lunch. I decide to just head to Potions early and get a spot in the back. I feel the tears trickling down my cheeks as I walk to class and for the first time since I was thirteen I can’t stop them. I duck into a large alcove near Snape’s classroom and put my face in my hands. I hear faint footsteps and then hear a voice.

“Liv?” They ask. “Is that you?” I look up and see Draco standing above me. 

“Piss off D, I’m not in the mood for you to be a prick right now,” I say as I put my head into my hands once again. I hear him shuffle over to me and then feel him sit down next to me. He gently pulls my hands away from my face and pulls my body into him. The simple action reminds me of when 11 year old Draco did that to me and I cry harder. 

“What happened?” He asks softly. 

“Hugh and I got into a fight. He was mad at me for hexing a Weasley,” I say quietly. Draco sighs.

“And why are so worked up? You guys fight all the time,” He replies. 

“He said you and Cissa and Lucius weren’t my family,” I mumble. Draco swears.

“That fucker. When I get my hands on him I-” Draco starts to say but I cut him off and sit up to look at him.

“You won’t do anything D, promise me. I’m not going to let you get detention. I’ll deal with it,” I say sternly as I wipe the tears off my face. He sighs and shakes his head.

“Fine. But only because I don’t want to do menial tasks,” He says standing up. Draco extends his hand and I allow him to pull me up off the stone bench. I wrap my arms around him and give him a hug. 

“Thank you D,” I say. He squeezes me back.

“Anything for family,” Draco replies and I smile into his chest.


	5. The Pink Lady

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Between the dashes is a flashback:)

I avoid eye contact with Snape for as long as I can while I set my bag and books down in the back of the classroom. Hopefully today is a solo potions day so that I can avoid speaking to anyone for as long as possible. The rest of the seventh year Slytherins and Gryffindors taking this class file in and I pick at my nails anxiously. Everyone settles into their places and finally after what feels like forever Snape speaks. 

“Good afternoon class,” He drawls. “Today I want you to brew me a potion of your choice. Alone. And if I see anyone helping another person, I will not hesitate to give you detention for a week. You may begin.” I sigh in relief and begin to brainstorm what potion I can make the easiest. I look around to see what materials I have to work with and make eye contact with Fred. I narrow my eyes at him and then look away. 

I decide to make Felix Felicis and head over to the ingredients to grab what I’ll need. I gather my ingredients quickly and then get to work. I get to the fifth step and realize I forgot to grab the Occamy eggshells. I swear under my breath and head over to the shelves to grab some. I grab a handful and add them to my cauldron carefully. After an hour the potion is finally done and I murmur the incantation over it to finish it off. 

Once everyone finishes their potions, Snape strolls about the room critiquing everyone's work. And by critiquing I mean mercilessly telling everyone, even the Slytherins, what they did wrong. He gets to my table and finally comes around to my work.

“Shockingly, Ms. Dawson, this is passably good. Five points to Slytherin,” He says as he struts away. I sigh in relief. I don’t think I could’ve handled anymore shit today.

A few moments later, the bell rings signally it's time for the next class. Normally I would be ecstatic to go to DADA, however Umbridge seems like a real wanker and I have to deal with the Weasley twins. I grab my stuff to leave when Snape stops me. 

“A word, Ms. Dawson,” He says. I groan internally and turn around to face him.

“Yes Professor?” I respond.

“Don’t be late tonight,” He replies coldly. “I haven’t much time and we ought not to waste it on you being tardy.” I nod and he spins away from me without another word. I roll my eyes and then make my long way up to Defense class. I’m about ten or so feet away when the bell chimes. I swear loudly and rush to the door. I open the heavy oak door as quietly as I can and curse myself inwardly when it creaks, stopping whatever Umbridge was saying. I shuffle in and glance around trying to find an open seat. She checks the roster and then looks back at me with a smile that drips with false sweetness.

“Ms. Dawson is it?” She asks me. “You’re late. However, today is the only day I will be lenient so have a seat next to…” She trails off. “Ah, have a seat next to Mr. Weasley.” She turns around and begins to fuss about her desk for a moment. Fuck me. Of course I have to sit next a Weasley. I scan the room trying to find the other and realize I am going to have to sit next to Fred. George is currently occupied by Angelina. Fuck fuck fuck.

I slide into my seat next to Fred in the back of the room as quietly as possible and drop my bag on the floor. Umbridge waves her wand and several stacks of books float down the aisles before dropping onto my classmates desks. After the books get distributed, Umbridge launches into a long winded speech about how we will not be performing spells, simply learning the theory. I hear Fred scoff next to me. For once I agree with him. How the fuck are we going to pass out N.E.W.T.s if we can’t perform spells. 

I need to take my frustration out on something so I decide to pull a prank on the pink bitch. I take out a piece of parchment and write “KICK ME” on it. I know it’s not the most clever but I had to do it quickly before she saw it. As soon as her back is turned and the rest of the class is looking down at their books, I murmur a sticking spell and wandlessly move the paper to attach to her back. Fred lets out a small laugh and then goes back to his book. The whole rest of the class period, everyone laughs quietly when her back is turned until finally she notices something is up.

“What’s so funny, dears? What could be so funny about stunning spells that you feel the need to laugh?” She says, her voice oozing with false sweetness. Merlin, I hate this woman already, so I mentally make the decision to make Umbridge my bitch this year.

“Nothing Professor,” We all chime. She lets out a tiny laugh and I cringe. What the fuck was the noise she just made? I shake my head and go back to “reading” the text when a folded note drops onto my book. I pick it up gingerly and unfold it. Nice one, it reads in sloppy handwriting. I look over at the only person it could have come from. 

“You really had to write that, Weasley?” I whisper. 

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I did,” He replies quietly. I roll my eyes in disgust and begin to pack up my bag. The bell sounds signaling classes are over for the day and my mood lifts. Umbridge sits down in her chair and the piece of parchment falls off her back and onto the floor. My eyes widen and I leave the room as quickly as possible so that I don't get in trouble on the first day of classes. 

I slowly make my way to dinner and when I spot my housemates grouped at our normal spot. Tara waves to me but I do not think I can deal with all of the drama, and by drama I mean interacting with Hugh, before I have to go deal with fucking Snape, so I turn around and head down to the kitchens, fully intent on eating alone. What a fanfuckingtastic first day. 

I follow the familiar path down to the kitchens and enter the bustling room. The house elves are rushing about at breakneck speed and I spot a familiar face.

“Dobby!” I call out happily. I was so happy that Dobby was freed, me and Cissa could not stand how Lucius treated the sweet elf. 

“Miss Olivia!” He replies happily, lamp like eyes shining brightly. “How can Dobby help you out today?” 

“Well, first off, you can stop calling me ‘miss’,” I say with a laugh. “I haven’t been your miss since fourth year. Secondly, could I get something to eat?” Immediately several house elves surround me with an array of food. I take some and thank them all profusely before heading out with my heaping plate to eat in my room. 

I finish eating and check the time and decide to just head to fucking Snape’s room early. He’s going to be pissed either way so might as well get there before he said to. I slowly make my way to his classroom and prepare myself for the insults and mental stress. I take a deep breath in and slowly push open his door. He’s standing with his back to me fiddling with something on his desk. 

“Hello, Ms. Dawson, have a seat, I’ll be with you shortly,” He grumbles. I roll my eyes and take a seat in the chair he placed in front of a desk, dropping my bag to the floor. I pick at my nails anxiously for a minute or two waiting for him to be ready. I start to mentally center myself and construct a tall wall around my thoughts to seal him out. 

“Legimens,” He says with no warning, pointing his wand at me as he spins around. My wall is incomplete and I feel his presence invade my mind. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

“Oh darling!” Cissa exclaims as I stand in front of her in my fancy dress. “You are so beautiful, you look just like your mother!” I freeze when she says that. I can feel all of the color leave my face as I excuse myself and rush upstairs to my room. I scramble into the bathroom and throw myself on the floor as I start to cry. The cold tile underneath me soothes my burning skin as sobs wrack my body. Why, why, why did she have to tell me that? Why did Narcissa decide to say that? What purpose does that serve. I barely remember her and I can’t even explain why what she said made me a mess. I bury my face in my knees and cry for the mother I barely knew. I soon hear soft footfalls enter my room. 

“Liv?” Draco calls. I try and fail to stop the tears from falling down my cheeks. I know it’s no use hiding from him either. He’ll find me eventually. 

“In here,” I reply, voice cracking. He pokes his head into the doorway and when he sees me on the floor, his brow furrows in concern. 

“What’s wrong? What happened?” He asks, kneeling in front of me. His grey eyes are filled with worry and I start to cry harder. I open my mouth to speak but nothing comes out. He understands, or at least I think he does, and sits next to me. Draco pulls me into his side and I continue to cry. We sit there in comfortable silence for a while as the tears slowly start to dry up.

“I miss my mum,” I say finally. “And Dad. How can you miss someone you barely knew?” 

“I know you do,” Draco replies. “Some part of you remembers them, you never forget stuff like that.” I nod against him. 

“Thank you, D,” I say.

“Anything for family,” He replies. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

I am pulled out of the memory abruptly as Snape leaves my mind. I am beyond livid at Snape for seeing what he saw. 

“That was private,” I spit at him. “That was not for you to see.” He glares at me.

“It was private, you say?” He responds, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Do you think the Dark Lord is going to care about your ‘private’ memories when he comes to the Manor?” I balk at his words.

“What do you mean ‘comes to the manor’?” I ask him, my eyes widening in concern and fear. Snape recoils at my words.

“Forget it,” He replies. “I should not have said that. There are things afoot that you are not privy to.” I open my mouth to say more and then decide against it. I know it will get me nowhere. Especially with him. I nod at fortify my mental barriers so he can’t see anything else. 

We repeat this same thing over and over until I can finally keep him out. I exhale loudly as I feel him leave my head. 

“I think we are done for the night,” Snape says to me. “You’ve done sufficient work for tonight.” I sigh in relief and thank him before grabbing my stuff to go. I’m opening the heavy door when he stops me.

“Ms. Dawson,” He calls from across the room. “Same time next week. Don’t be late.”  
I head out and close the door behind me. I slump against the wall for a minute to take a breather from the heavy mental exertion. Merlin’s beard, Snape is a hard ass. I lean against the wall and catch my breath when I hear shouting from down the corridor. I walk quickly over to see what’s going on and find a crowd of students gathered around the entrance to the Slytherin common room. 

“How DARE you say that to her!” I hear someone shout. “I will make you regret saying that, Fordham!” Fuck. I told Draco to stay out of it. I push my way through the large crowd as the fight continues. 

“I didn’t mean it!” Hugh yells back. I hear Draco laugh as I finally get to the front of the crowd. Draco has his forearm pressed up against Hugh’s neck and the other is pointing his wand in Hugh’s face. 

“You don’t fucking say shit like that!” Draco shouts at him and I see Hugh recoil. Draco pushes his forearm against his neck again and Hugh winces, “If I ever, EVER hear you say some bullshit like that again, you will regret the day you were born.” That's the final straw for me and I step forward. 

“Draco, for fucks sake. I told you I’d handle it,” I say to him angrily. I give him a glare that he knows means to get the fuck out of my way. His grey eyes flash in anger but he nods and then heads off. “Now all of you lot,” I say, turning to the crowd. “Scram before I hex you.” I see Hugh trying to leave out of the corner of my eye and I grab his arm. 

“Fuck,” He says.

“Yeah ‘fuck’ is right,” I say standing in front of him with my arms crossed. He cringes a bit at my stance.

“Dawson, I’m sorry, okay? You know I get angry sometimes and I can’t help the things I say. I know I’m an asshole for saying that and I’m really sorry,” Hugh says with a small, tightlipped smile. I decide I am in a forgiving mood and let it go. 

“It’s fine,” I say. “But if you ever say some shit like that to me again, I won’t stop Draco.”

“I know,” Hugh replies. 

“C’mon, we have Divination homework to start,” I say and we enter the common room together.


	6. Detention

The rest of the week flies by without incident and thankfully it’s finally lunch on Friday. I’m ecstatic to just have two classes left for the day because the rest of the seventh years and I are already loaded up with homework.

“I cannot believe McGonagall assigned us with two essays already,” groaned Tara from our usual seat at the Slytherin table. She looks at Hugh next to her and mimics a gag. His girl of the week is latched on to him like a leech. I suppress a gag myself and try to eat my chicken.

“I know Tara, it’s mental,” I reply. “Do you want to head to Potions early? I think that we’re doing partners today.”

“Yeah we can go early but I already promised Hugh I’d partner with him,” Tara responds. “That was when you were pissed at him,” She continues, noticing my disappointed look.

“Ugh, fuck,” I say, rubbing my forehead with my hand. “I have a feeling good ole Snape is going to pair me up with Weasley. He seems to hate me more than usual recently, especially since our lesson.” Tara nods sympathetically and we make our way down to the Potions classroom. We have a while until class starts so we take our time meandering down there, discussing our revisions schedule on the way.

“There’s a party tonight, you know,” Tara says to me about halfway to Potions. I groan a little at the thought. “Are you gonna repeat last week's events?”

“Not if I can help it,” I say with a grimace. “I am staying far far away from Fred Weasley. I plan to get pleasantly stoned and then try not to vomit while Hugh sucks that girl's face off.” Tara laughs loudly as we walk down the stairs and I begin to laugh too. We enter potions class together and take our seats at the same table even though we unfortunately won’t be partners. I start to prep my cauldron and hope that I can partner with someone I like or can at least work with for the class period. Slowly students file in and take their seats. Hugh plops himself down next to Tara looking very disheveled. Tara and I share a look.

“You two excited for the party tonight?” Hugh asks and then looks at me with a glare. “Hopefully there will be no repeats of last time.” I roll my eyes and sigh exasperatedly

“Fuck off Hugh,” I say. “Like I told Tara, I am staying on the couch pleasantly stoned for the night. No Firewhiskey for me.” Hugh nods approvingly and I laugh at him mirthlessly as I flip him off. I notice everyone is here but the Weasleys and I’m internally ecstatic. No one has taken the seat next to me so hopefully I can just work alone today. Just then, the door is flung open and Snape strides into the classroom with his usual dramatic flair and the door slams shut.

“Take your seats class,” He says with a drawl. “Today we will be working in pairs and-” Snape is cut off by the door opening. I take one glance and the door and swear profusely in my head. Fred and George stride into the room looking very pleased with themselves.

“Detention the both of you, my office Saturday evening,” Snape says in a clipped tone. “Now I will pair you up with partners myself since you took it upon yourselves to come at your leisure.” I swear under my breath and take down my mental wall just enough to convey to Snape that if he pairs me with either Weasley, I will not let the fact he is a teacher stop me from killing him. Snape and I make eye contact just as he gives the boys their partners and I see him smirk at me.

“George you’re with Mr. Chambers and Fred you will be with Ms. Dawson,” Snape says as he turns around to head to his podium. I’m speechless as Tara and Hugh gape at me. Fred saunters over to the seat next to me and gracelessly throws himself down into it. I roll my eyes at him.

“I sincerely hope that you will be more graceful with our potion today, Weasley,” I say snarkily.

“Oh why of course, Dawson! I wouldn’t dream of being anything less than perfect for you this fine day,” Fred says with a toothy grin. I have to resist the urge to sucker punch him.

“Today you will be brewing a review potion, the Draught of Peace,” Snape says with a glare across the room. “This should be easy, however if you fail to brew this simple potion correctly, you will spend the entire weekend scrubbing my room, starting tomorrow morning. No magic and with a toothbrush.” Everyone collectively groans. Snape flourishes his hands at us all to signal it is okay to start.

“Weasley, I am not doing that fucking task so if you screw this up, I will show you just how much of a Malfoy I really am,” I say to him menacingly. He nods at me silently. I am quite sure he remembers the perfectly aimed hex I sent his way. I take a deep calming breath as I fortify the wall around my mind. I am going to need all the mental clarity and calm I can get for today.

I tell him to go grab half the ingredients while I grab the other half and we split up the chopping and preparing. I look around the room to check on the other peoples progress and I notice that no one is as far ahead as me and Weasley. I smirk down at my table and then go back to preparing the ingredients.

About 40 minutes later, our final ingredient is added and our potion turns the perfect shade of turquoise and has a silver mist gently wafting off of it. I side eye Weasley and he looks very pleased with our work. If we were friends I would say something nice, but we are thankfully not so I turn to check on Tara and Hugh. Their potion is frothing and foul smelling steam is rolling off of it. I can hear them quietly bickering back and forth so they don’t attract Snape’s attention just yet.

“Alright, that should have been sufficient time for most of you and if not, that is too bad,” Snape says loudly. He begins to stroll around the class critiquing everyone’s work.

“Ms. Wright, Mr. Bufford, I believe your potion is supposed to be blue and not red,” Snape says coldly. I watch her and her partner recoil a bit before he moves on.

“Mr. Chambers and Mr. Weasley, tsk tsk, why is it bubbling? I do believe it's supposed to be a flat potion,” Snaps Professor Snape. He continues to walk around the classroom. Next to me, Tara is frantically trying to fix her and Hugh’s potion without looking too obvious.

After a few minutes, Snape arrives at our table. He glances at us coldly and I give him my best glare back. I am still pissed at him for pairing me with Weasley, no matter how well our potion turned out.

“Ms. Cofford and Mr. Fordham, I specifically said a Draught of Peace, not whatever this disaster of a concoction you two have created,” Snape looks at them as if they are a disgrace to his house. He glances into our cauldron for a moment and then smirks. “It seems as though Mr. Weasley and Ms. Dawson have shockingly created the perfect potion. You two,” He says looking at Tara and Hugh. “I will see you tomorrow morning at lets say half past eight.” He strides away from the tables and goes to his desk. He waves his hand at us dismissively, signaling we may leave.

I stand abruptly and grab my things quickly. I just want to finish my last class of the day and get stoned with my friends. A nice peaceful evening is just what I need. I quickly make my way up to the defense classroom and find that the door is locked. We slowly gather around the room waiting for that pink bitch to show up. Tara and Hugh finally catch up with me and Hugh stands breathlessly next to me.

“Why do you have to be so bloody fast,” Hugh complains. “Merlin’s tits Dawson.”

“Stamina, Hugh, I’m sure your girl of the week would appreciate you strengthening yours,” I retort. He glares at me and then doubles over to catch his breath. Tara and I look at each other and then start to laugh. He flips us both fingers. We laugh even harder. Just then we hear the tap tap of heels coming up the hallway. The group of us collectively turn and look to see the toad faced, pink wearing woman approaching us from down the corridor.

“Quiet down children,” She says condescendingly. “You are almost all of age, act like it.” I can tell she’s saying that specifically to me and Tara. She opens the door and waits for us all to file in before telling us to sit in the same seats as last time. I groan and head to my seat. Fred sits down next to me and then the lesson starts.

“Today you will be reading chapter two of your textbook, silently. Let’s not repeat last time with all of the laughing,” Umbridge says with a giggle. We all force a smile at her. “You may begin reading.”

I begin to read the boring, useless text and start to doze off until about three quarters of the way through the lesson when I feel a tap on my shoulder. I look up from the book and see Weasley grinning at me like an idiot. I roll my eyes and look back at my text. A minute later I feel a tap on my shoulder again. Once again Weasley is smiling at me.

“What the fuck do you want,” I whisper.

“You’re gonna love this, Dawson. I set up a dungbomb on her seat while Georgie kept watch. As soon as she sits her fat arse down, it's going to go off,” Fred whispers back, looking very pleased with himself. My eyes widen and surprise and I pinch myself to keep from laughing. Up until now she’s been pacing around the room watching over us, but now she heads to her desk and sits down. As soon as she sits down her eyes widen and a putrid stench fills the room. Fred immediately bursts into laughter as the rest of the class stares in horror. I can’t help myself and I begin to laugh too. She stands up with a loathsome look on her face.

“You two,” She says pointing her fat finger at us and we immediately stop laughing. “Detention my office, seven o’clock sharp. Class dismissed.” I’m shell shocked. I get a fucking detention, and for laughing? The fuck is going on inside her peabrain.

“Yes, Professor,” I say to her before grabbing my things and heading out. I hate her. I hate her. I hate her. I repeat this mantra over and over in my head as I head down to dinner early. I sit down at the table and put my head in my hands. Tara and Hugh sit in their usual seats around me and look at me strangely as I grab my dinner.

“What?” I ask angrily, my temper flaring.

“You’re looking awfully chummy with Weasley these last few days, Dawson,” Hugh says. “You know their reputation amongst society.” Tara nods. Sometimes it slips my mind that I’m friends with blood purists. It’s not uncommon for Slytherins to be like that but I often forget that two of my closest friends act like that too, especially since they both want to be aurors.

“I think you forget Hugh, I don’t believe in that shit,” I say coldly. “I think it also has once again slipped your mind that I have asked you to not discuss that around me.”

“You know Dawson, for living with the Malfoys your whole life you're awfully unlike them,” Tara says to me with a strange look on her face.

“You know, I may have been young when my parents died, but they didn’t believe in blood supremacy and neither do I. That’s that,” I say pointedly. “I will not discuss this again with you two.” At this point I need to head to detention so I get up from the table, my food untouched. I make the walk up to Umbridge’s room swiftly and try and fail to avoid Weasley on the way. He’s leaning against the wall next to Umbridge’s door.

“Dawson,” He says in greeting. I sigh in annoyance and ignore him. “Ah, the silent treatment. Nice.”

“You got me into this Weasley and because of you I’m missing the party, I think that warrants the silent treatment,” I reply. The door finally creaks open and Umbridge’s toad face sticks out.

“Come in,” She says with false sweetness. We walk in and see that there are two pieces of parchment with quills set up on two desks. “Take your seats,” Umbridge says as she points to the two seats. “You’re going to be doing lines for me today.”

“Professor? We haven’t got any ink,” I say frowning.

“Yes, these are special quills, they don’t need any ink,” She replies.

“What are we meant to write?” Fred asks. She does her little sickly giggle.

“You both will write: I will behave,” Umbridge says with a smile.

“How many times?” I ask her.

“As long as it takes for the message to really sink in,” Professor Umbridge says back. We both nod and start to write. As soon as I write the first word the skin on the back of my hand starts to itch. After I finish the sentence, I see that the same sentence has been copied on the back of hand. It dawns on me that the ink I see on the paper is red. I think Weasley has the same realization as me because I hear him quietly groan. We glance at each other from across the aisle, my look of horror is surely mirrored on his.

“Is there a problem children?” Umbridge chides. “There’s no reason for you two to be doing anything other than your lines.” We nod yes and I get back to writing the lines. After several minutes my hand is starting to throb and I can tell it’s starting to bleed. My sloping handwriting is etching itself into my skin as I repeat the lines over and over. I am morbidly thankful for having nice writing. I quickly glance at my hand and notice that it’s now bleeding quite a bit.

Several hours later, my hand is painfully throbbing and still bleeding. The words are bright red against the back of my palm. I’ve filled up at least two and a half pages of the lines that are written in my blood.

“I think that was sufficient time to let the message sink in,” Umbridge says with a false smile. “You are dismissed.” I quickly grab my things and leave the room as quickly as I can. I duck into the nearest bathroom and grab a bit of toilet paper to wrap my hand in until I can get to my dorm. I walk as fast as I can down to the dungeons and sigh in relief when I finally approach the entrance to the common room.

I murmur the obscene password and enter the softly glowing room. I hear an odd noise when I enter but I don’t think too much of it until I walk further in. I notice a shock of platinum hair peeking out from on top of one of the armchairs. His head shifts and I hear him mumble something.

“Fuck Pansy, right there. Merlin I’m close,” He says. I stop in my tracks and feel bile start to rise in my throat. If I could go around them I would but the entrance to the girls dorm is blocked by my whore of an adopted sibling.

“Hem hem,” I cough. “If you two would like to move somewhere more private that would be much appreciated. I’d very much just like to go to bed.” I hear rustling as the two of them put themselves together. Draco and Pansy finally stand up and Draco looks embarrassed. Good. Serves him right for getting his rocks off in the middle of the common room. They start to head off and I grab Draco’s arm.

“What do you want, Liv,” He asks.

“Draco, I know you have…” I shudder. “Needs… however, a slag like Pansy is not the way to go.”

“Oh fuck off,” He says with a glare.

“D, I know you want to fuck Harry but this is not the way to take those frustrations out,” I tell him. He turns bright red.

“H-h-how… how do you know?” He says. I offer him a soft smile.

“I’ve known you your whole life, D, I know you,” I say to him. “Plus its fucking obvious. It’s either Harry or Granger. I can’t quite tell to be honest.” He smirks a bit. I roll my eyes and pull him into a quick hug. “Draco I mean it. Please don’t let me see you with Pansy again. I can’t handle it.” He laughs quietly and then nods.

“You’re right Liv,” He replies. “She’s not that good either. Too much teeth.” I blanch at the words and swallow down some throw up. I flip him off and quickly run up into my dorm. In the midst of all of that, I forgot about my hand. However, now that it is at the forefront of my mind, it’s throbbing painfully and has soaked through the tissue. I’m glad Draco didn’t notice it because I could not have dealt with the look on his face when he saw.

I go through my trunk looking for my mediwitch pouch and finally find it. I head into my bathroom and pull out the Dittany to drop a few drops onto my hand. The throbbing starts to subside and I finally can see the back of my hand in all its glory. The words have turned a dark angry red and spell out “I will behave” in my neat, sloping handwriting. I didn't even notice that I started to cry until a tear drops onto my hand. I am going to make her life a living hell and I’m going to need help to do it.


	7. Truce

I quietly grab a spare bit of parchment from my trunk and grab my ink and quill from my bag. I cast a muffliato on my bed and then hastily scribble a note onto the parchment that says ‘Meet me in the empty classroom near McGonagall’s room at half past 8pm tomorrow, come alone. Owl me with your response- Dawson’. I know that it’s past curfew but I have to get this note out before tomorrow. I cast a quick disillusionment charm on myself and sigh in defeat when I’m only slightly out of focus. I’m not the best at these but it will at least get me past Mrs. Norris in a pinch. I quickly glance around my room to make sure that my roommates are sleeping. Imani’s curtains are drawn and I hear soft snores coming from Audrey’s bed. Tara’s sprawled out in her bed haphazardly and I let out a small laugh as I gather my things and quietly leave the dorm. The common room is dead silent except for the slight crackle of the fire.

The walk to the owlery is cold and quiet. It takes me about 20 or so minutes making the long walk. I look for Athena’s gray body amongst the tawny and white owls and finally spot her near the top. I click my tongue to signal her down and she opens her eyes at me before closing them again.

“C’mon Athena,” I say to her. “I have a treat for you if you take this letter for me.” She opens her eyes at me again and then flies down to perch on the ledge next to me. I tie the piece of parchment to her leg and then give her a few pets on the head before telling her where to go. She hoots and then flies off into the night. I head back down to my common room as quickly as I can and try not to get caught. The disillusionment charm has long worn off and I am now fully visible. I’m almost there when I hear the soft footfalls of Mrs. Norris. I freeze in place and then I see her lamplike eyes come around the corner.

At the sight of this, I run the rest of the way to the common room. I say the password quickly and then hurry inside. I let out a huge sigh of relief and then head up into my bedroom. It's past midnight now and at this point I’m exhausted. I don’t even bother getting out of my robes and instead pass out immediately.

I wake up the next morning way too early. I am groggy from detention the night before and then running around the castle. I can hear Tara rummaging around her trunk and I suspect that she is the reason I’m awake.

“You could be a little quieter you know, some of us had rough nights,” I say a bit hostilely as I blink blearily at her.

“Oh bugger off Dawson,” She snaps. “Get up, do your homework and start your revisions.” She smirks at me. I grab my pillow and toss it at her. She laughs and throws it right back at me. I catch it and cover my head with it while flipping her off. I know she’s right though and I groan as I sit up. She quirks her head at me, “Why are you still in your robes?” I look down at myself and sigh in annoyance.

“Ummm, guess I was just too tired to change last night,” I say offhandedly. “Aren’t you going to be late for Snape?” I try and change the subject. She checks her watch and then swears loudly.

“I’ll see you, Dawson,” She says and then rushes out of the room. I get up and head into the shower. I lock the door and then undress quickly, placing my wand on the counter. I jump into the stream of hot water and quickly wash my hair. I step out and wrap myself in a fluffy towel, waving my wand to turn the water off. I wipe the condensation off the mirror and stare at my reflection for a minute. Thankfully my mascara hasn’t run all over my face. I use a drying charm to dry my hair quickly and then head back out to grab my clothes from my trunk. I change into my quidditch jumper and some jeans and then grab my book bag before pulling my boots on and making my way to the Great Hall for breakfast.

I grab a piece of toast off of my table and then walk over to Felix and Clancy who are sitting at the Ravenclaw table talking animatedly. I walk up behind them and ruffle Clancy’s hair affectionately. He stops talking abruptly and Felix turns to look up at me with a smile.

“Ah good morning,” Felix says. “What are you up to this fine Saturday?”

“Oh you know, same old, same old,” I reply with a grin.

“Avoiding Hugh then are we?” Felix responds with a cheeky look in his eyes. “We’re barely a week in and you’re already annoyed with him.”

“When is she not annoyed with him,” Clancy says. I laugh loudly.

“Very true, Clance, very true,” I say. “However, I was hoping to finish, and by finish I do mean start my homework and start my revising. Would you two fine, young men care to join me?”

“I’ve already finished my homework, but I guess I can come along for revisions,” Clancy responds to me. My lips quirk as I try to fight a smile at his seriousness.

“While I will admit to being a very fine man, Dawson, I, unfortunately for you, swing for the other team. I will, however, accompany you to do homework,” Felix says with a wink. I laugh loudly and shove his arm playfully.

“Great, I’m gonna go ask Shea and then want to meet in the usual spot?” They both nod and I leave to go find her. I have a strong feeling she is going to be in the greenhouses and head that way quickly.

I pop into Greenhouse 4 and see her hunched over a pot. Her short platinum hair is pulled back into the smallest pigtails I’ve ever seen. I know better than to creep up on her while she’s working and I remain at the doorway. Last time I snuck up on her, I got nipped by a tentacula plant so I’m staying far away. I cough slightly to get her attention and she turns around to face me. Her face and overalls are covered in dirt smudges.

“Hi, Dawson,” She says as she grabs a towel off of a nearby chair. “What’s up?”

“The usual,” I reply. “Doing my homework later than I should be.” She laughs loudly at my words and lets out a snort. I roll my eyes at her before continuing on, “Care to join?” She looks down at her feet and nudges a clump of dirt.

“Will Tara be there?” Shea looks up at me and I see a blush creeping onto her cheeks. I smirk at her knowingly.

“Eager to see Cofford are we?” I say with a grin. She blushes darker and shakes her head. I laugh, “Don’t worry Shea, she and Hughie are in detention with Snape this fine morning. Me and the boys are going to go revise and finish up our homework if you care to join?”

Shea nods and grabs her things before following me out. I hear her mutter a quick scourgify on her clothes and laugh inwardly. We make our way down to our usual spot and take my normal seat against the trunk of our big oak tree. I run my finger fondly against the small initials of me and my friends' names carved at the base of the tree. Shea and I start to set our stuff out on the grass and I spot Clancy and Felix making their way over to us. Shea rolls her eyes at the serious way her twin is walking over to us. It's such a stark contrast to the way Felix saunters across the grass. He just oozes Frenchness and all around sophistication.

“Good morning Shea,” Clancy says in a monotone voice. “Olivia,” He continues. Shea throws her head back with a loud laugh and I cringe a little at the use of my name.

“Fucking Clancy,” I say, joining Shea in laughter.

“Morning Clance,” Shea responds and gives him a peck on the cheek as he sits down next to her. He makes a face but doesn’t shrug her off like he would one of us. Shea is one of the only people Clancy tolerates. It’s actually sweet.

“What are we starting with?” Felix asks. I groan.

“I need help with Herbology,” I say. “Shea? Care to help me out?” She nods and pulls out her large, tattered notebook that I know is stuffed full of notes and diagrams. I eagerly grab it from her and start to look for the information I need. We all work silently for a few minutes as we get into our zone of studying.

“Dawson, can you help me with this Transfiguration work?” Felix asks. “I know Clancy won’t spare his time to help me out in my time of need.” He puts his hand against his forehead in a mock display of sickness.

“Felix, that’s not what you said and you know it,” Clancy replies sternly “I said I won’t let you copy down my work.” Shea and I dissolve into laughter at Clancy’s tone at Felix. At Clancy’s words, Felix feigns hurt and gasps. That only makes Shea and I laugh harder. We finally compose ourselves and I grab my notes out of my bag to hand them to Felix.

“Thank you, doll,” He says to me with a wink.

“You’re welcome,” I reply, stretching the notes out between us. “But I swear to Circe if you copy it I will hex you.” He nods and takes the notes from my hand.

We stay under the shade of our tree for a while as we study and revise. Everything is peaceful and quiet until I see Tara and Hugh walking across the lawn over to us. I groan a little and slump heavily against the trunk of the tree. I really don’t want to deal with them right now. I’m still annoyed with them over their comments about me and Weasley. They continue their walk across to us before sitting down. Tara takes a seat between me and Shea as Hugh plops down heavily in front of me, in between Felix and Clancy.

“What are you lot up to?” Hugh asks us as he leans back on his hands.

“Studying, obviously,” I respond, with a biting tone, as I gesture to the pile of work spread out around us.

“Oh c’mon, Dawson, lighten up,” Tara says to me with a glare.

“Yeah, lighten up,” Hugh seconds. I flip them both off and get back to my work. I get a few more moments of peace before a disaster I did not foresee strikes.

“What’s that?” Shea asks, cocking her head up at the sky. We all look up at where she’s looking. A small speck is flitting around toward us, rapidly growing bigger.

“A rogue snitch?” Tara queries, leaning against Shea to crane her neck up farther. I notice Shea’s face blush and I smile up at the sky. That smile quickly leaves my face as I realize what the speck is.

“No, that’s an owl and a right small one at that,” Felix says. My eyes widen as I start to make out the speck which is in reality a small grey owl and is flying right towards me. It finally arrives at our spot and flits annoyingly around my head. A small scroll is tied to its tiny leg and it lands on my knee. The tiny grey thing hops from knee to knee as I try to untie the note. Everyone around me is staring in shock at the tiny thing. I finally get the note off of it as it finally settles on my left knee. The notes says ‘Sounds like a plan, see you there and send the owl back before he bites you, he’s impatient’. I see what he means by the thing being impatient because the little owl bites my finger before flitting off into the sky. I don’t even have time to reread the note before Tara snatches it out of my hands.

“Hey!” I yell. “That’s mine, give it back.” She reads it aloud to us all.

“Sounds like a plan, see you there and send the owl back before he bites you, he’s impatient,” Tara says as I try and fail again to get the note from her. Instead Hugh snatches it and stares at it in disbelief.

“Do you have a date Dawson?” Hugh asks. A weird look crosses his face as he says it. I sigh in relief. They don’t suspect a thing.

“A lady never tells her secrets,” I say with a wink as I gather my things. I need a much deserved nap before the meeting tonight, so I stand up and head back into the castle. I leisurely make my way back to my common room. I make my way up into my room and change out of my jeans into some comfy pants. I fall down heavily into my bed and lay there more a few moments before falling into a deep sleep.

I wake up suddenly what I assume is several hours later when I hear Imani and Audrey stumble into the dorm laughing. I groan and role over to try and go back to sleep. However, my dorm mates keep laughing and I’m unable to fall back asleep. I sit up and stretch my arms above my head.

“Imani?” I look at her from my bed.

“Yeah Dawson?” She replies.

“What time is it?” I look out the window as I ask her and see that the sky is turning a dark blue.

“Like 7:45 why?” Imani says back to me as she checks her watch. I immediately get out of bed and throw my jeans back on. I check my appearance in the mirror and my hair is a mess. I quickly throw it into a ponytail as I rush out of the room, grabbing my wand as I go.  
I move as quickly as I can up to the meeting spot and half run half fast walk all the way there. I’m breathless by the time I reach the room and I shut the door behind me as I enter. I look up at the small clock on the wall and note that I’ve made it just in time. I sit on one of the desks and fiddle with my wand while I wait. I practice wordless magic and summon random objects around the room.

After a few moments, I hear footsteps by the door and straighten up from my perch on the desk. I worry that it's a teacher approaching and not actually the person I’m meant to be meeting. I nibble my lip in worry as the door opens and let out a sigh of relief at the sight of him, which surprises the both of us.

“Wow,” He says. “That happy to see me, Dawson?”

“In your dreams Weasley,” I snap back.

“Obviously this isn’t a little rendezvous,” Fred says, wiggling his eyebrows at me while I scowl. “Otherwise you’d be in a lot less clothes so what’s up?”

“I need…” I trail off, hating the words that are about to come out of my mouth. “I need your help. I need to make Umbridge’s life here a living hell and I can’t do that on my own.” He laughs out loud at my words and I glare at my feet.

“For once I agree, Dawson,” Weasley replies and my head snaps up to look at him in shock. “That bitch needs to be put in her place.” I slide off the table and tentatively walk towards him.

“I’m glad we are on the same page for once,” I say to him and I find that I mean it.

“I think I am too,” He says with a laugh.

“So what do you say, Weasley,” I extend my hand out to him, slowly, like a child would towards a scared dog. “Truce?” He nods and takes my hand. His hand is rough from quidditch and warm. I shudder a bit at the contact.

“Truce,” Weasley says, a grin creasing his features. I furrow my brow a bit at his overly excited smile.

Umbridge is in for a treat, I think to myself. He starts to head out and I grab his arm to stop him.

“Meet me here, Monday at 7:00. Bring ideas for how we can fuck with her.”

“Sounds like a plan, Dawson. She’ll never know what hit her.”


End file.
